What do we see with our ears?

Group of alpacas who each have ears facing in a different direction

Yes. You did read that correctly. What we notice isn’t just a matter of sifting through what falls on our retina. Watch animals, or even people, for a short while, and you start to observe this in action. Because our senses are far more integrated than we give them credit for. Yes. We are fearfully … Read more

What do we expect to see?

Single bright green acorn on leaf mould

Wandering without an agenda, even for a few minutes, lets us notice what we might otherwise miss. A SINGLE ACORN One, just one when last year, there were multitudes, so many I couldn’t walk without crushing some. One, just one, not a deficit, but more rebalancing the scales of the years. Weighing out time. One, … Read more

Tilting of the colour wheel

view down the green path through a tunnel of trees

A little shift, darkening of the green with a tiny dab of yellow, becomes a movement across the hillside. Not overnight, lest we think everything has changed. But tilting in that direction. The one that says it’s time to bring out the layers and recalibrate our expectations. Where else are we noticing tilting but don’t … Read more

Muddy brown waters

Family of Canada Geese blending into the muddy lake water

It’s easy to dismiss the muddy brown waters, the result of heavy rainfall on our Welsh hills. Yet to do so merely demonstrates surface thinking. Only noticing what immediately meets our eyes. However, get attuned to the movement and the tiny disruptions on the surface, and another world emerges. What are we missing in our … Read more

What astonishing skill

spiders web with dew drops

Every day of the last two weeks, I’ve tried to perfect my alpaca fibre processing… And then I come across these beautiful webs. And weep. All around us are demonstrations of beauty in action. If we will only pause and notice. I have so much to learn… Pause. See differently. Re-story 🌿

Noticing beauty in the everyday

striking image of a miniature red acer in sunlight after rain

Why do we think beauty is reserved for extraordinary places or special occasions? Rather than being hidden in plain sight. As Marcel Proust commented: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in finding new landscapes but in seeing with fresh eyes.” Pause. See differently. Re-story 🌿

What do you see beneath the canopy?

View under the trees

Wandering the valley after the alpaca rounds and noticing… BENEATH THE CANOPY Trees with manicured understorey,  the height of those nibbling lush leaves, tell a story of their own. Shade from the elements. Safety in shadows.  Sustenance renewed for valley dwellers.   Finding place in common space reciprocal in glorious diversity, here is flourishing in … Read more

Where is your precious attention?

dew on spider's web

At the start of his brilliant book, The Art of Noticing: Discover What Really Matters to You, Rob Walker quotes Amy Krouse Rosenthal: “For anyone trying to discern what to do with their life: pay attention to what you pay attention to. That’s pretty much all the information you need.” It’s an excellent question to … Read more

When you stop to take notice

bright red dock leaf

When something catches our attention, and we pause to look, we don’t always see what we expect. And that leaves us with a choice. Each of these moments is an invitation to further inquiry; looking deeper, zooming out, or in. Opening possibilities for a new way of being. + Rick Rubin, from The Creative Act: … Read more